Tag Archives: weight management

Questions & Answers

The Number One Way To Lose Belly Fat

I want to share with you the best exercise for losing stubborn belly fat.

Now you’re probably reading this thinking, “Oh man, here we go. This guy’s a scammer. They’re all scammers. All of these people who say you can lose belly fat instantly and you can lose the weight and all that sort of stuff and Mr. Bakker is just another one of these deluded fools who’s going to show us some kind of trick and some kind of BS.”

Well, I can tell you this isn’t marketing or hype. I know from years working with clients that the absolute best exercise for losing belly weight is to push your plate away. Yes, that’s it.

The best exercise for weight loss isn’t spending hours on the treadmill, it’s pushing your plate away, so you eat less food. Of course, walking every day helps, but it’s eating less which is the deal-breaker.

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When it comes to exercise, sitting in front of the computer is the last thing you need to do. Less than 25% of North Americans get sufficient exercise.

When I go to restaurants, it’s unbelievable how much people will eat at a single sitting.
It can be hard to get used to eating less, but you know what else is hard? Living with diabetes and heart disease.

Learn to push the plate away at breakfast, lunch, and supper. Of course, eat sufficient amounts of healthy food, but you don’t need to lick your plate clean every time you eat.

Your brain likes the dopamine that is released in response to eating tasty food. But don’t let that lead you to years of overeating. I have maintained the same weight throughout my adult life, give or take a few pounds in the winter.

If you let your weight creep up a few pounds a year, then by the time you’re sixty, you’ll be courting obesity.

The obesity crisis is out of control. Take control of your own life. Not your doctor, not your husband, not your wife, nor your son or daughter. You need to manage your belly fat, and the best way to do that is by cutting back on how much you eat. It’s so simple; it’s almost laughable. I’ll leave you with it.

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Questions & Answers

How To Motivate People To Lose Weight

Obesity is a very big problem in Western countries, particularly the United States. The cost of obesity is nearly $150 billion a year in the U.S.

There is an expert in the field, Dr. Mitesh Patel, who has looked at the types of incentives that help motivate people to lose weight. He even looked at whether financial incentives like tickets for a small lottery win would help people commit to losing weight. Dr. Patel is a behavioural expert and helps businesses improve their employees’ health.

We know that healthy people are more productive in the workplace. Companies are always looking for ways to motivate their employees to develop healthy habits.

If you give a person the chance of winning a $5 lottery every few days and make it a one in four or five chance, it doesn’t improve motivation to any great degree. If you increase the pot to $400 to $500 dollars but the chances of winning are less, there still isn’t much of a difference.

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However, people placed into random lotteries are more likely to hit the goal of 7000 steps per day. In fact, the number of people hitting that threshold went from 26% to 38% in response to a change in the lottery incentive.

It’s sad that people need bribes, incentives, and buddies to push themselves into a fitness program. I feel so sorry that there are so many people trapped in big bodies who don’t feel they have the power to do anything about it.

I’ve helped a lot of obese people come down to an average size. Unfortunately, many of them regained the weight. Some of them didn’t and were able to sustain the weight loss.

I think upbringing influences your body weight. Friends and social circles also impact your weight. If your friends and family tend to be active and eat healthily, you’ll be more prone to do that yourself. It’s hard to be slim when your family has a legacy of watching hours of television while eating pizza and drinking pop.

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Questions & Answers

Drinking water and weight: What you need to know

Can drinking plain water help you lose weight?

A study done in 2008 followed close to 200 premenopausal women between ages 25 to 50. When the researchers adjusted for diet, exercise, and other variables, water intake was still a significant determinant of weight. It turns out that overweight women on diets lose more weight if they drink a liter of water per day.

The question is, do you need to drink eight cups a day? Do you only lose weight if you consume a certain number of ounces of water each day?

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Actually, I don’t think the amount of water is so much the issue. I think the key factor is to drink regularly throughout the day. When you drink regularly, your body will craving more and will keep your consumption high.

The body is no different than a garden. You’ve got to water it. The body is about 77% water, so keeping our water content up is very important.

I drink all year round although less in winter compared to summer.

Water helps generate a feeling of satiety. If you combine ample water with eating smaller servings and increasing your physical activity, weight loss becomes less difficult.

Science has shown us that water can indeed contribute to weight loss success.

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Questions & Answers

Walking As A Weight Loss Tool

An interesting study was conducted in 2002, related to walking and weight loss.

The researchers found that walking no only improved weight but also cholesterol and waist circumference. The study also found that people had better outcomes if they dieted and walked rather than dieting alone.

The improvements were also more significant for people who walked thirty minutes daily compared to people who walked for sixty minutes, once or twice a week.

However, you don’t have to walk to lose weight. You can be active in other ways. I love to garden, and I get a lot of activity by bending, stretching, and walking through my yard. I have friends who prefer yoga, running and cycling. The important thing is to find an activity you enjoy, walking or otherwise.

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Being active is one of the critical habits that I try to encourage people to practice throughout their lives. It’s crucial to avoid the dreaded “sitting disease” that develops when you spend day in and day out in front of the screen. Some people find a fitness tracker very helpful. In some cases, these gadgets can also monitor sleep and relaxation. These trackers don’t only help people get off their butt, but sometimes gets them to get on their butt and relax!

If you want something a little less fancy, pedometers can keep track of your steps.

I think being active, whether it be via walking or something else, is crucial for keeping your weight, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity in check. It can also reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Activity is truly one of the best “medicines” out there.

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Questions & Answers

What really causes weight gain? Your genes, your diet, or your gut?

Genes, joules, or gut bugs: which one is the most to blame when it comes to weight gain?

Joules are just a measure of calories, so the question becomes, what makes people fat? Is it genetics? Is it the number of calories they’re eating, or is it the bacteria in their gut?
It turns out that genetics doesn’t explain weight gain to any significant degree. About 100 genes have been linked to obesity so far. Scientists have determined that only 3% of weight is explained by your genes.

When it comes to gut bacteria, you can lose a bit of weight just by taking probiotics alone. But it’s a very subtle shift in weight that occurs when you improve your gut bacteria. Not insignificant but not enough to be the answer to the obesity epidemic.

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If we look at the kilojoules or the calories in the diet, it’s a totally different ball game. Years ago, they wondered if you took 10% of the calories out of someone’s diet, would they lose 10% of their body weight? And that’s exactly what’s been demonstrated.

In one study of 117 healthy adults, weight loss was found to be commensurate with how many calories were removed from the diet.

The bottom line is that what you eat is the prime determinant of your weight. It’s not the genes; it’s not the gut bugs; it’s the calories that determine your weight.

If you want to lose weight, you need to look at what you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, and why you eat. Stress is an important consideration, as well. Remember that the stress hormone cortisol can increase your appetite and trigger cravings for high-calorie foods. Studies have shown that there is a huge difference in calorie consumption, depending on whether you’re in a low-stress or high-stress state.

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